


Are You Chicken?

by multifanwho



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Bullying, Homophobia, Multi, Racism, just general nastiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 09:58:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16808389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifanwho/pseuds/multifanwho
Summary: Ryan and Yaz decide to take the Doctor to experience Nandos for the first time and run into an old school acquaintance who has a few comments to make that the Doctor doesn't agree with.





	Are You Chicken?

“So the whole place just sells varying forms of chicken?” The Doctor asks while examining the menu placed on the table in front of her.

“Pretty much. You can get different sides with it too, if you like.” Ryan answers. Grinning from ear to ear after realising she is able to test her new taste buds with different combinations, the Doctor starts to make a mental list of what she wants to try. She doesn’t even know if she likes chicken yet, but she always seems to like chips, no matter what body she is in.

“And what part of this makes it ‘a cheeky Nando’s with the lads’.” The Doctor asks referring back to Ryan’s initial response when she asked where they could go for some food.

“Well, lads are like friends and that’s us,” Ryan taps on the table to signify their presence as a group. “and a cheeky Nandos is sort of just like, well, it’s hard to explain really it-“

“Ryan please don’t get her started I’m too starving to explain the concept of memes.” Yaz interrupts.

“Wait what’s a meme?” The Doctor asks even more enthusiastically.

“Oh my God please just focus on the food for now I’ll make a slide show later or something.”

“What do you usually have then Yaz?” The Doctor asks, not lifting her eyes from the piece of paper but instead nudging her friend next to her with her elbow.

“Shit!” Yaz hisses.

“I mean it can’t be that bad if you can chose from so many combina-“

“No doctor, you see that blonde girl that’s just walked in and is waiting to be seated?” 

The Doctor looks up and spots the one Yaz was talking about. She had blue eyes and a long face with high cheekbones. She was very skinny and wore a red crop top and blue jeans, and was being held by a pasty young man who’s using his other hand to look at his phone.

“Oh no.” Ryan adds, turning back to face his friends.

“Who is she?” The Doctor asks, concerned. Whoever she is she’s provoked a strange reaction from the two of them. Yaz’s head hangs low as if she doesn’t want to be noticed and  
her body has shifted closer to the Doctors as if she needs to hide behind her for protection. Ryan is crossing his arms against his chest and hunching his shoulders like he’s closing himself off.

“Issy Flint.” Ryan sighs.

“My bully from school.” Yaz whispers into the Doctors ear, fearing any louder would summon her presence.

“She was right nasty, and she’s still got the same boyfriend. Probably couldn’t find anyone else desperate enough.” Ryan inputs. His comment makes Yaz giggle and the Doctor smile. As they all make up their minds on their orders they don’t see the waiter seating Yaz’s old enemy right next to them. 

“I’ll go order.” Ryan says, getting up and taking the menu off of Yaz and pulling it off the Doctor who seemed to want to keep it.

Yaz starts to relax again but as she does she spots her childhood bully sitting opposite and across from her at the table next to them, and she instinctively tries to hide behind the Doctor again. Spotting this as extremely out of character for wonderful, strong, ambitious Yaz, the Doctor grabs her hand under the table.

“Hey,” She says giving a slight squeeze of the hand and a comforting wink. “it’s okay.” 

“I knew it.” A voice scoffs from the direction of Issy Flint’s table. The Doctor hears and her back straightens as she peers over Yaz to look at the blonde who has a clear smirk plastered on her face.

“Excuse me, what exactly are you knowledgeable of?” The Doctor asks defensively.

“Doctor don’t-“ The Doctor cuts Yaz off by giving another gentle squeeze of the younger woman’s hand, as if to say ‘trust me’. Flint’s eyes flick between the Doctors and Yaz, who is staring at the table praying that there isn’t going to be an argument in the middle of a restaurant, even if it is just Nandos.

“Well it’s just we always knew since primary school Yasmin was a lesbo and now we have proof.”

“What proof?” The Doctor asks scrunching her face.

“You’re holding her hand and winking at her.” She gives as a terrible example. The Doctor, realising how she came to this conclusion shifts in her seat a little. “A gay Muslim, how must your family cope with it Yaz.” Issy Flint remarks and the Doctor can feel a burning anger starting at her toes and rising fast. The Doctor opens her mouth to snap back but this time Yaz squeezes her hand.

“Actually my family and community are very accepting of it and forward thinking. Muslims are more loving than you ever have been, and especially more loving than your boyfriend who hasn’t looked up from his phone the whole time you’ve been in here.” Issy Flint is left with her jaw partially open, as if she hadn’t expected Yaz to have the backbone to defend herself with. The Doctor was offended at how little the bully expected of Yaz. She has some worlds she would like to say, but Ryan comes over with their food all bagged up. He had obviously ordered it as a take away so the group could get out of there as soon as possible.

“Ryan how are you?” Issy Flint says, finding her voice again. “How’s your dad? Heard from him lately?”  
Sensing that the tension was getting a bit to thick for what Ryan called just ‘a cheeky nando’ the Doctor takes action and stands up, breaking the link between her and Yaz’s hands.

“We best be off then.” She announces encouraging Yaz to stand up. The group don’t bother to properly say goodbye to the immature and nasty girl sitting near them. It takes all of the Doctor’s power to not say ‘not so nice to meet you’ as she passed.

“Try not to trip over your own feet on your way out.” The girl torments Ryan as the group exit the building, and that’s when the Doctor decides she can’t ignore this behaviour anymore.

“You two go on to the TARDIS I’ll catch you up, I think I left my psychic paper on the table, can’t have that laying around for anyone to find.” She says as an excuse to go back inside. Yaz and Ryan think nothing of it and head to the car park where the TARDIS landed.

Inside the establishment the Doctor calmly walks up behind Issy Flint unnoticed by the girls boyfriend, who is still on his phone. She places her pinky on the spot of her neck that will disable her from behind and moves her head over the other shoulder. 

“Yasmin Khan is building a happy and successful life for herself regardless of her religion or sexuality which is more than can be said about you. She is working her way up to the top of the police force and having amazing experiences at such a young age while your ignorant, homophobic, racist, Islamophobic, ableist comments will get you nowhere good in life. Grow up and start respecting people for who they are because people can be beautiful, unless you’re too chicken to admit that other women can be far more attractive in your opinion than the boy you chose to sit across from you at this table. I am an alien from an ancient planet and if you dare go near my friends again with the attitudes you have now towards them I will find you and I will try you for hate crimes under intergalactic law, do you understand me?”

After leaving her question and words to linger on the girls consience for a couple of seconds the Doctor removes her finger from the pressure point on the bullies neck and swiftly turns to leave. 

Back at the TARDIS Ryan and Yaz have dished up the food onto plates and are waiting in the main control room for the Doctor to return. When she does, she doesn’t mention anything she said or what had just happened.

“Find the paper?” Yaz inquires. 

“Yeah, left it on the seat, silly me!” The Doctor says reaching for her plate of food that had considerably more on it than the others. “Right then, chicken, let’s find out if I like chicken.” The Doctor takes a bite and chews for a minute.

“I don’t like chicken.” She concludes. Perhaps it was the slightly spicy sauce making it hard to eat, or the bitter taste of ignorance and discrimination in her mouth leaving a bad impression on the chicken. Yaz and Ryan laugh at the look of disgust on her face and in that moment she swears to herself that she will always protect her friends Ryan and Yaz.  
Especially if it meant she got to hold Yaz’s hand in hers again.

**Author's Note:**

> hashtag let 13 snap 20gayteen


End file.
